Lot 171: A tiger killing a sika deer

Raden Sarief Bustaman Saleh (Terboyo, Java circa 1807-1880 Bogor, Java)
A tiger killing a sika deer
dated 'VI.I.78' and inscribed 'R.Saleh' (verso)
pencil, heightened with white and gum arabic
8½ x 11½ in. (216 x 292 mm.)

Scion of a noble Javanese family, Raden Saleh received his earliest training in the then Dutch colony from the Belgian painter Antoine Payen. In 1829 they traveled together to the Netherlands where Saleh continued his training under Cornelis Kruseman and Andreas Schelfhout. In Dresden where he settled, Saleh developed his talents through studying both Old Masters such as Rembrandt and Van Dyck and modern artists such as Delacroix and Géricault. In 1845 he traveled to Paris where he met Horace Vernet; the two subsequently traveled to Algiers to gather material. In 1851 he returned to Indonesia and established himself as a society portraitist, later becoming Curator of the Art Collection of the Dutch Government in Indonesia. To this period can be dated the majority of the large scale paintings of wild animal hunts in the manner of Delacroix. The present work, which clearly shows the influence of the latter artist, dates from Saleh's last visit to Europe, made with his second wife in 1875-79.